Game Production Summit » Conference Day 2

8:30 am - 9:00 am WELCOME AND REGISTRATION

9:00 am - 9:05 am WELCOME TO CONFERENCE DAY TWO

9:05 am - 9:30 am OPEN DISCUSSION: ‘If This Was My Studio I Would...’

Andréane Meunier - Live Services Studio Operations Principal Lead - Playstation Studios, Sony Interactive Entertainment

We kick start conference day two with an interactive conference-wide game, designed to encourage the sharing of ideas and peer-to-peer learning.

How It Works:

The room is divided into 6 teams.
Each team is given a fictional game project 6 months from launch. A sudden capacity crisis is introduced
Teams have 10 minutes to brainstorm solutions.
Each team nominates a spokesperson to present their ideas to the room.

Andréane Meunier

Live Services Studio Operations Principal Lead - Playstation Studios
Sony Interactive Entertainment

See Bio

9:30 am - 10:15 am PANEL DISCUSSION: Who Owns the Outcome? Accountability When Things Don’t Go as Planned

Andrés Zardain - Production Director, Nimble Giant - is part of Saber Interactive.

In game production, challenges are inevitable. Ambitious features, new mechanics, or evolving storylines can push projects beyond their original plans, leading to missed deadlines, budget overruns, and team burnout.

But who takes ownership when milestones slip, quality drops, budgets start to drift, or gates get delayed? This session dives into leadership accountability in practice, exploring how these situations are escalated, managed, and resolved.

Panellists will share proven approaches for:

Escalation Protocols: How issues are raised and routed to ensure visibility without finger-pointing.
Decision Ownership: Clarifying who is responsible when key milestones or deliverables are at risk.
Preventive Measures: How establishing clear accountability upfront can reduce chaos when the unexpected occurs.

Andrés Zardain

Production Director
Nimble Giant - is part of Saber Interactive.

See Bio

10:15 am - 10:45 am MORNING FRESHMENTS AND NETWORKING

10:45 am - 11:15 am KEYNOTE: Planning for a 4–6 Year Development Cycle in a 6-Month Tech Wo

AAA game development frequently spans four to six years, yet the underlying technology stack including engines, middleware, rendering pipelines, platform SDKs, and network architecture can shift dramatically in six months. This misalignment between long-term production planning and rapid technical evolution is one of the industry’s most persistent challenges.

In this session, XXXX explores strategies for architecting resilient production pipelines that can absorb technological change without derailing schedules, causing delays and increased costs.

Key discussion points include:

Integrate modular feature sets, iterative milestones, and parallel sprints to accommodate engine upgrades, platform SDK changes, and middleware evolution.
Evaluate adoption of new rendering techniques, physics engines, network solutions, and tools while maintaining stable code branches and CI/CD workflows.
Implement scalable content pipelines, reusable code frameworks, and automated build/test systems that endure through evolving tech stacks.

11:15 am - 11:45 am KEYNOTE Driving Down Development Costs: Building Financially Viable Game Production Models

This keynote explores how studios and publishers can meaningfully reduce development costs without sacrificing quality or delivery. Moving beyond traditional outsourcing models, the session focuses on scalable production structures, co-development strategies, outcome-based partnerships, and smarter team design to address the broken economics of modern game development.

Topics include:

Structuring co-development and partner models around outcomes, not headcount
Building teams that can scale and contract efficiently across development phases
Leveraging specialist partners instead of permanent capacity for complex systems and features
Integrating external studios into a single production ecosystem, not siloed outsourcing

11:45 am - 12:30 pm PANEL DISCUSSION: Beyond the Hype: How AAA Studios Are Driving Real ROI with AI in Production

Join our panellists for a candid discussion on how AAA game studios are practically integrating AI and automation into production workflows, without undermining the core decision-making role of producers.

While many studios continue to rely on long-established toolsets, there is a clear shift toward extending those systems with off-the-shelf automation and AI-enabled solutions. This session examines where AI is delivering tangible value today, particularly through the automation of low-judgment, high-frequency tasks such as documentation, internal support, request routing, and routine production reporting, allowing production leaders to refocus on problem-solving, risk mitigation, and forward planning.

The panel will also address the less discussed reality that AI is not a guaranteed cost saver: many tools introduce ongoing operational costs, creating a “catch-22” that forces studios to carefully evaluate scale, frequency of use, and long-term return. With recent data indicating that 5% to 30% of a production leader’s time is now consumed by AI sourcing and integration, the industry has reached a tipping point where experimentation alone is no longer enough.

This session cuts through the generative AI buzz to focus on measurable ROI, sharing how large-scale developers are using small proofs of concept, data-driven evaluation, and disciplined rollout strategies to determine what genuinely improves production outcomes.

12:30 pm - 12:45 pm LIVE Q&A

Andréane Meunier - Live Services Studio Operations Principal Lead - Playstation Studios, Sony Interactive Entertainment

Andreane Meunier, Senior Director of Production at PlayStation Studios, takes the stage to lead our final interactive session. Taking control of our conference app Andreane will address the top questions submitted by delegates throughout the two-day event.

Don’t miss this chance to voice your views anonymously and influence the final direction of the summit.

Andréane Meunier

Live Services Studio Operations Principal Lead - Playstation Studios
Sony Interactive Entertainment

See Bio

12:45 pm - 1:45 pm NETWORKING LUNCH

1:45 pm - 2:15 pm KEYNOTE: Managing Up & Navigating Executive Pressure

For directors, head and senior production executives' pressure is a constant reality. Conflicting priorities, late changes in direction, and the push to ship despite known risks create intense challenges.

This session explores how to balance the demands of leadership with the needs of project teams and how to maintain credibility while protecting the people responsible for delivery. Panellists will discuss practical strategies for:

Communicating Risk Clearly: How to raise concerns about scope, schedule, or quality without losing trust.
Managing Up: Techniques for influencing decisions and aligning priorities amid changing directives.
Protecting Teams: Ensuring your team can work sustainably, even under pressure, while delivering results.
Decision-Making Under Pressure: How to weigh short-term demands against long-term success and quality.

2:15 pm - 3:00 pm CLOSING PANEL DISCUSSION: What’s Next: The Human Centric Pivot

In the final session of the Game Production Summit, panellists take a step back to reflect on the key themes of the event and look ahead to what will shape game production over the next 12 months.

This year’s summit has highlighted a major shift in the industry. Following the volatility of the mid-2020s, success is no longer defined solely by technical achievement or production output. The focus is moving toward human sustainability, organisational resilience, and cultural intelligence. Studios are redefining production around the people who make games possible and how teams are supported, empowered, and retained has become central to long-term success.

The panel will explore emerging trends in people priorities, including talent orchestration, cultural intelligence, remote work balance and most importantly, how to move away from crunch cycles to sustainable practices that retain top talent.

24 - 25 June 2026 | Poland

Conference Day 2

8:30 am - 9:00 am WELCOME AND REGISTRATION

9:00 am - 9:05 am WELCOME TO CONFERENCE DAY TWO

9:05 am - 9:30 am OPEN DISCUSSION: ‘If This Was My Studio I Would...’

Andréane Meunier

9:30 am - 10:15 am PANEL DISCUSSION: Who Owns the Outcome? Accountability When Things Don’t Go as Planned

Andrés Zardain

10:15 am - 10:45 am MORNING FRESHMENTS AND NETWORKING

10:45 am - 11:15 am KEYNOTE: Planning for a 4–6 Year Development Cycle in a 6-Month Tech Wo

11:15 am - 11:45 am KEYNOTE Driving Down Development Costs: Building Financially Viable Game Production Models

11:45 am - 12:30 pm PANEL DISCUSSION: Beyond the Hype: How AAA Studios Are Driving Real ROI with AI in Production

12:30 pm - 12:45 pm LIVE Q&A

Andréane Meunier

12:45 pm - 1:45 pm NETWORKING LUNCH

1:45 pm - 2:15 pm KEYNOTE: Managing Up & Navigating Executive Pressure

2:15 pm - 3:00 pm CLOSING PANEL DISCUSSION: What’s Next: The Human Centric Pivot

3:00 pm - 3:15 pm CLOSING REMARKS

3:15 pm - 3:15 pm END OF CONFERENCE DAY TWO AND GAME PRODUCTION SUMMIT 2026

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